Blogger/TCDB/OBC roundup

 One from OBC this week. Chris Kodl knocked out nine of my 1979 Hostess needs.

From TCDB, a nice eclectic mix from Robogoalie.

Castle Anthrax hit a lot of 1990s sets, including some nature-themed 1998 Metal.

A little bit of everything from mac412, from vintage to fun modern to the last three cards for my 2009 Topps set! And he left me needing just one more from the 2007 Topps Update set. Amazingly it's a Yankee common, something you would have thought I'd have gotten a long time ago. Anyone have Kyle Farnsworth #84?

On to the bloggers! Jose Rijo delivers a pitch to Stan Musial on the two cards I got in this month's Diamond Jesters time travel trade.

Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts had some more cards to give away and I made sure to grab some. Some shiny cards, some vintage players, some NY Giants, and a great oddball.

1981 Topps Dave Winfield

 

The front: What a great photo of a great player. Really shows Winfield's distinctive batting stance. This is Shea Stadium, and that's Willie Montanez on deck. There were two day games at Shea where Montanez batted behind Winfield. The first was a 2-1 Padres victory on May 3. The second was an 18-inning game on August 26. In that game Winfield hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning. The Padres took the lead later in the inning but the Mets tied it in the ninth. After eight scoreless innings, the Mets intentionally walked Winfield with a runner on third and one out in the 18th. Montanez made them pay with an RBI single, and the Padres went on to win the game.

The back: While Winfield's multi-sport skills were well known (taken in the MLB, NFL, NBA and ABA drafts), it is forgotten that he was also a terrific pitcher. Perhaps in another era he could have been a Shohei Ohtani type.

The player: Dave Winfield was one of the all-time greats. He was a five-tool player who excelled at every part of the game. He was certainly one of my favorite players when I started following baseball and the Yankees. Looking back, some of his struggles may have been pressure to justify his big contract. Still, he had great success everywhere he played, finally winning a World Series with Toronto in 1992. In 2,973 games over 22 seasons, he hit .283 with 465 HR, 1,833 RBI and 223 SB. He was a 12-time All-Star and 7-time Gold Glove winner.

The man: Winfield has been heavily involved in charitable and business adventures going back to his days with the Padres, and has always had a wide variety of interests beyond sports. He started charitable work in his rookie season, and in 1977 the David M. Winfield Foundation was the first charitable foundation founded by an active athlete. In addition to his numerous charitable adventures, he has numerous business interests. In addition to his own company, Winfield is an Advisor to the MLBPA, investor in a fitness startup, and is on the board of directors of a publicly-traded SPAC.

My collection: I have 224 of his cards, from 1974 to 1996. There are still a lot more cards from his Yankees days that I would be interested in trading for, including: 

1982 Drakes #31

1983 Fleer Star Stickers #39

1983 Kellogg's #15

1984 Nestle #6

1985 Yankees Police #4

1986 Burger King #2

1987 Action Superstars #10

1987 Classic #11

1987 Drake's #5

1987 Indiana Blue Sox #4

1987 Kay-Bee #33

1988 Baseball Stars Series 2 #5

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best #244

1988 Drake's #12

1988 Fleer MVPs #43

1988 Fleer Mini #44

1988 Gray Series 1 #4

1988 Yankees Unlicensed #4

1988 New York New York #4

1988 Pacific #2

1988 Red Stars Series 2 #5

1988 Score Box Bottoms #8

1988 Sportflics Gamewinners #7

1989 Classic #32

1989 Fleer All-Stars #44

1989 Pacific #4

1989 Topps Box Bottoms #P

1989 Topps UK #84

1989 Kay-Bee #32

1990 Sportflics #87

1990 Hills #17

1990 Topps TV #34

1976 SSPC Cesar Geronimo

 

The card, in brief: Great mid-swing photo of Geronimo, while a trio of Reds stand in the outfield.

The player, in brief: Originally a Yankees prospect, Geronimo was a Rule V selection by the Astros in 1969. After three years in Houston with little playing time, he was a throw-in in the trade that sent Joe Morgan to the Reds. Though never a star like Morgan, Geronimo developed into an integral part of the Big Red Machine. The center fielder won four straight Gold Gloves from 1974 to 1977. In his best years he hit for some average with doubles power and a little speed. His production tailed off significantly when he turned 30 in 1978. He ended his career with three seasons as a backup outfielder in KC. Overall in 1,522 games he hit .258 with 161 doubles, 51 HR, 392 RBI and 82 SB.

Post-playing career, in brief: He has been involved in many coaching and development endeavors in his native Dominican Republic. He is now retired.

My collection: I have 29 of his cards, from 1971 to 1984. I would be interested in trading for 1975 Hostess #121.

1970 Topps booklets Bill Singer

 I always liked his nickname: The Singer Throwing Machine.

A reference here to the famous Avis ad campaign - We're Only #2, So We Try Harder, which debuted in 1962.

The Golden West just looks like big piles of hay.

I don't know who Jenkins and Gibson are in front of Singer. They sure don't look like Fergie and Bob. Maybe it's Geoff and Kirk.

Cake or gum? 1976 Mike Ivie

Last time Hostess held on for a 6-4 victory. Who will win here?

Mike Ivie takes some cuts for the photographer  at Candlestick Park. I believe that is the Giants' #12 Gary Thomason in the background on the Hostess card. Some large ads for Chevron gas and Olympia beer are visible in in the background.

Ivie was the first overall pick of the 1970 draft, but his major league career failed to live up to expectation. This was partly due to emotional and mental issues that Ivie opened up about later in his career. Overall, in 857 games for four teams over 11 seasons, he hit .269 with 81 HR and 411 RBI. Ivie originally came up as a catcher, but developed a mental block about throwing the ball back to the pitcher and was moved to first baseman. After the 1979 season, when Ivie seemed to finally be putting it all together, (.286, 27 HR, 89 RBI), Ivie badly cut his hand with a hunting knife. The Sporting News Guide said, "The sensitive first baseman couldn't cope with the long rehabilitation process, and the injury also affected his brittle confidence." Ivie, who kept a low public profile after his playing career, died in 2023.

Wood vs. Wood #224

Last time 1962 eked out a 5-4 win. What will happen this time?

This is one of the more unusual rookie cards in the vintage Topps set. He came up with the White Sox for five games in 1957, and in 1958 Topps issued a card with this photo (wearing a White Sox cap) against a yellow background. In 1958 he pitched in 7 more games for the pale hose, and his 1959 card reused his 1958 photo, now on a gray background. Though Rudolph pitched for both the White Sox and Reds in 1959, he did not get a card in 1960. He spent the next couple of years in the minors, and was a Rule V selection by the Indians in November of 1961. Topps decided this warranted a card, so they airbrushed a Cleveland cap on the photo they had already used twice, put him on an orange background, and declared him a 1962 rookie. He pitched in one game for the Tribe before they traded him to the Senators in May. With Washington he finally got a chance to stick in the majors for good, with 102 appearances (57 starts) between 1962 and 1964. Finally an established major leaguer, Topps finally issued cards with new photos of Rudolph in '63 and '64. Overall in 124 games, Rudolph went 18-32 with an ERA of 4.00. He was best known for being married to burlesque star Patti Waggin. Rudolph managed her, with her appearances usually coinciding with Rudolph's baseball travel. They had a daughter in 1961. Rudolph retired from baseball in 1966 and started a contracting company, but was killed in 1968 when his truck overturned.

Wayne Tolleson at shortstop at Yankee Stadium. This was my first year following baseball, and the scrappy, spectacled little guy was easy for a little kid to root for. Tolleson was a two-sport star at Western Carolina, where he was an All-Southern-Conference WR. He came up with the Rangers in 1981 and was a utility infielder for them through 1985. He was traded to the White Sox in 1986, who in mid-season dealt him to the Yankees. He stayed with the Yankees through 1989. Tolleson was a good fielder with excellent speed, but could not hit for average or power. In 863 games he hit .241 with 9 HR, 133 RBI and 108 SB. After his playing career he was an executive for Centerplate, a food vendor at sports stadiums. He is now a consultant and coach for youth baseball organizations.

Wallet card with some abandoned railroad tracks in an unusual location

Last night was brutal. Still, if they hadn't made the errors they'd have found another way to lose. Dodgers were clearly the better team in every area. The silver lining - at least the Yankees laid this egg about a team I don't care about, and not the Mets.

In the long and convoluted history of the Long Island Rail Road there are a lot of train lines that ran and closed decades ago. As a result there are a lot of abandoned tracks in more remote areas (though there are not that many undeveloped acres in Nassau County). It is quite unusual, however, to see random railroad tracks in a busy shopping area. These tracks in Garden City, next to a BJ's and some medical buildings, are a remnant of the old Garden City-Mitchel Field Secondary, an offshoot of the LIRR's main line. This was discontinued as a passenger line in 1939 but remained in sporadic use for freight rail into the 1980s. Most of those tracks are long gone, but these have somehow avoided removal in the last few decades, which have seen a big construction boom. Cool little random remnant of Long Island's railroad history.

All Right For One Night

The Yankees clearly aren't going to win this Series but it was nice to be able to enjoy one game, at least. The Dodgers have a much stronger lineup, not top-heavy like the Yankees, and a better bullpen. They're starting rotation is clearly much better than advertised as well. The Yankees should look at L.A. as an example of the right way to buy a championship - build a balanced team around your big stars, not fill your lineup with several automatic outs. 

Great to see Volpe and Torres hit those big home runs, gave the crowd something to cheer about. Bullpen was excellent too. Now just got to do it three more times.

Blogger/TCDB/OBC roundup

Starting off with these cards from A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts. He had a free cards tab on his blog for a long time and I was one of those who didn't notice until he pointed it out in a blog post. Some 1972 Sunoco football stamps, and lots of fun cards of vintage players. Some great photos there. But my favorite is the super-shiny Scott Rolen from 2000 Bowman. It just really pops in person.

It looks like Jon's updated that free cards tab so right after publishing this I'm going to go claim some more. Got to keep up my reputation as a grabber of free cards. As usual there are way more than nine that I'd want, so it's good he's got that restriction.

TCDB has been quiet lately but I had a nice trade with Abebauman. Some nice vintage including a '63 Fleer and a '72 high number. I love cards like Aspromonte's that look like they were taken in someone's backyard with the neighbor's house visible. Some fun modern cards in the mix too.

Lots from OBC lately. Byron Boyd sent four Fleer from '63: Face, Farrell, Freese and, er, Famalfitano. Two from 'Fifty-Five Bowman as well!

A fun modern mix from Gunny Musgrove, who's also on TCDB. Everything from FDR in WWI to early Candlestick Park.

Eddie Bankston sent some modern cards, mostly whittling down my 1990 Leaf set, but also with the last card needed for my 1994 Fleer set!

Andrew Goguen sent a nice all-Canadian mix.

Peter Mead sent these three old cards of even older players.

Four 1962 wooden headshots from Mark Talbot.

Newcomer Steven Buzil jumped right in sending two vintage cards including a '68 high-number with Luke "Sky" Walker.

Scott Jensen sent four '55 Bowman's. Two dark-paneled TVs and two light-paneled ones.

 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Brooks Robinson

Lots going on here. The palm trees and shadows make for a bit of an odd look in black-and-white, almost like there was a problem developing the photo. The chain-link fence and Robinson's shadow add to the cluttered look of the photo.

March 15, 1973. The dating seems accurate this time.

Assuming this is March 15, 1973, the Orioles fell to the Rangers, 4-1. Elliot Maddox homered for Texas and Toby Harrah drove in a couple of runs. 

In other news, President Nixon warned that the US would resume fighting in Vietnam if the Viet Cong broke their ceasefire; the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified in Connecticut but ratification was rescinded in Nebraska, and a 55-year-old woman was killed in an LIRR crash in Ronkonkoma.

The same, or almost the same, photo, was used for Robinson's 1975 Hostess card. It certainly looks better in color. It's either a longer shot than the deckle photo, or the deckle photo was cropped from this one. Not only can you see Robinson's shadow on the ground, you can clearly see the photographer's shadow, partially on the ground and partially on Robinson. What an unusual photo!